With recent tragic events associated with the Queensland floods, Cyclone Yasi in Northern Queensland and now the devastating Christchurch earthquake, the visualisation of extent and impact via remote sensing and spatial visualisations have come to the forefront of reporting. TV and newspaper reporting have effectively used the capacity of spatial technologies to document and show the impact of disasters. Combined with video, graphicas and images the media has been effective in informing the public on the extent, nature and impact of these disasters on the built environments, landscapes and community. However in our excitement over the potential of spatial representation during these times we should not lose touch with the fact that we are watchng in real time, real people suffering real hardship. Spatial visualisations must not become clinical and non-thinking" of the human component, several degrees detached. When watching the spatial visualisations it becomes quite easy to just focus on the technological wonder and not appreciate the degree of human suffering occuring in the space being visualised.

Here are just some of the sites which have been so influential over the past few months reporting these extreme natural events.

* NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock who is currently aboard the International Space Station shares pictures of the Earth he snaps with the world through Twitter. Known to his nearly 68,000 Twitter followers as Astro_Wheels, Wheelock has been posting impressive photos of the Earth, including Cyclone Yasi over recent months. To view some amazing pictures of the earth from the space station go to http://twitter.com/astro_wheels#

Since Spatialworlds is a blog dedicated to all things spatial I feel beholden to write a posting on the Australian Curriculum: geography shape paper in terms of its capacity to promote, embrace and bring to fruition the desire of many of us to see spatial technology and analysis used in geography classrooms around Australia. I guess the question is not how many times the word spatial or spatial technology is referred to in the document but how it is integrated into the knowledge, understandings and skills implicit in the curriculum. Yes, spatial is one of the perspectives described in the shape paper and spatial technology is alluded to as an important skill but is the document a strong advocate for the use of 21st Century geography technology and analysis? Furthermore does the document imply that to teach this curriculum from F-10, schools and teachers need to use spatial technology and associated analytical techniques and skills? The question needs to be asked; does this curriculum perpetuate the teaching of geography using tracing paper and coloured pencils or is there an expectation that teachers have to learn how to use and understand spatial technology and its applications? To many of us this is a no-brainer considering that spatial technology is so accessible, costless and supported with heaps of curriculum materials. What excuse can a school have to not promote the use of spatial technology as an expectation if they are doing geography? I know this is a contentious point of view with many saying that schools cannot afford the technology and teachers have not got the time to learn the technology. I strongly believe that these attitudes need to be challenged by teachers and schools which use the technology and that the curriculum should not be determined by those who have not used the technology in their schools or classrooms. All the impediments we faced to using of spatial technology in 1997, when it was first used in Australian classrooms, have gone (cost, computer capacity, data accessibility and cost, available curriculum and teaching materials). That is with the exception of one; the capacity of the geography teacher to learn spatial technology and be prepared to continue to learn with the students. Such a pedagogical risk-taking style is a core ingredient of the profile of the spatial technology using teacher. We cannot let this last impediment stop the introduction of ‘beyond Powerpoint’ technology into our geography classrooms. It is achievable if we decide we want it to happen! Imagine if a mathematics teachers in the 1990’s had decided that the graphic calculator was too hard for teachers to learn and use in schools, we would still have classrooms not using such a basic technology for mathematics. To the world of geography, spatial technology is already a basic technology being used in all walks of life (by academic, vocational and lay geographers and the general public). Why is it so hard to get meaningful use of spatial technology into the geography classroom, let alone history, science, mathematics classrooms? Yes, it is the profile of the geography teacher but that can be overcome with investment in sound professional learning. Spatial technology and its use needs to be ‘front and centre’ as an expectation in the curriculum, only then will the investment in the professional learning required be offered and embraced by jurisdictions. So is it in the shape paper? What follows is an attempt to locate and analyse the importance of spatial technology and spatial analysis in the ACARA shape paper for geography.

1. Spatial Perspective: One aspect of this perspective is the investigation of how places are linked to other places, such as through natural processes, the movement of people, flows of trade and investment, cultural influences, the exchange of ideas and information, political power and international agreements. Geography examines the effects of these connections and interdependencies by identifying the changes they produce and the ways these changes can be managed. A spatial perspective enables students to consider their own place in a much wider context. Another aspect involves the study of the spatial distribution of one or a small number of the characteristics of places, and the attempt to explain the patterns observed by the operation of atmospheric, hydrologic, geomorphic, biological, socioeconomic or political processes. Geographers may be particularly interested identifying and explaining regularities, or how the same processes can produce different outcomes in different places, and consequently contribute to the diversity between places. A spatial perspective teaches students how to think spatially, how to use and interpret maps of all types, and how to analyse and understand relationships between phenomena using spatial technologies. It also enables students to understand that the influence of location on the characteristics of a place depends on the relative location of other places, the infrastructure and technology that links it to those places and the economic and social relationships between them. Geographers also evaluate the environmental, economic, social and political consequences of spatial distributions and the policies that could be adopted to respond to any unwanted consequences (page 4, ACARA Shape Paper for Australian Curriculum: geography).

3. General Capabilities(page 8); the ICT General Capability says:The geography curriculum will provide many opportunities to develop and use ICT skills. These include basic computing skills and the use of computer software to locate, manage,analyse and present geographical information. Geographical ICT skills include the use and application of geographical information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) to create, manage, represent and analyse spatial data; the viewing and analysis of spatial data through remote sensing and 3D visualisations (such as Google Earth), and the management and representation of geographical data in graphical and other visual forms. The use of spatial technology is a rapidly growing area of ICT, with significant employment opportunities in the expanding spatial industry. The use of spatial technologies will be integrated into the curriculum from early primary school onwards to ensure the development of students’ ICT skills matches their cognitive abilities, and the application of those skills in the topics being studied. The curriculum will also provide opportunities for students to explore the effects of these technologies on places, the location of economic activities and on people’s lives, and to understand the changing spatial relationships enabled by ICT.

4. Skills development: Geography develops a range of other skills. These include representing and communicating information through maps, diagram and graphs; analyzing data through cartographic, statistical, graphical and qualitative methods; and modelling spatial relationships. Opportunities to learn appropriate spatial technologies should be included in both the primary and secondary school curriculums (page 20).

These excerpts show clearly that the shape paper makes it very clear that there is an expectation in the Australian Curriculum: geography that teacher’s use and expose their students to spatial technology and its applications? How will this expectation translate into the enacted classroom curriculum? Can teachers ignore the direction the shape paper gives on the use of spatial technology and associated spatial analysis?I will leave it up to you to decide as to whether the above references to spatial technology in the shape paper are strong enough to promote the much needed incorporation of spatial technology into the Australian Curriculum for geography spatial.

If you wish to reply to this blog and discuss the nature of the shape paper please take advantage of the Google group called ‘21st Century Geography in Australian Schools’. I have created this group in an attempt to disseminate relevant information on 21st century geography and the AC but also to be a forum for discussion as the Australian Curriculum for geography is written over coming months. By the way, the ACARA timeline for geography is for a draft curriculum to be released for trialing and consultation in August this year.

Well the Australian Curriculum: geography shape paper has been released (January 2011) and presently I am attending in Sydney the induction week for the ACARA Advisory Panel for the next stage of the curriculum development of the geography curriculum. Since my last Spatialworlds blog posting way back in October last year much has been happening in the world of geography. Hence the reason for not posting!! The AGTA conference in Adelaide went off well, with great keynotes, field trips and workshops (and social occasions). For Mark Manuel and me the conference was an especially rewarding time after several years of preparation and worry. To have over 240 Australian geographers all together for a week in one place to share our love and aspirations for geography was a great experience. Several of our keynotes in particular really hit the ‘nail on the head’ when they said:

“The world is amazing – observing it is a privilege, valuing and conserving it is essential, understanding it is fundamental. Geography’s status can only be helped by winning hearts and minds in the wider worldDr Rita Gardner, Director of the Royal Geographical society of the UK

… and Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision and the new AGTA Patron

“The future is what we make it. Geographical understanding is the key to help students unlock the shape of their future and find ways to come to grips with the challengers of the future.”

The conference provided a great grounding for the work we have ahead of us this year in writing the Australian Curriculum for geography. I hope we can live up to the need to make this new geography curriculum for Australian students inspiring, relevant, challenging and fun. If ever we needed someone to inspire us it was one of our other keynotes at the conference, Duncan Chessell(adventurer of mountain climbing and Antarctic fame, geologist and businessman). Duncan’s address was truly inspirational to all the geographers gathered and really summed up why we are in the business of ‘turning on’ young people to geography and the world. At the end of the talk I had to wait several minutes for the gathered geographers to end their appreciation and applause for Duncan’s talk. Keep a eye on the AGTA site to watch an excerpt of Duncan’s talk.

In summary, Duncan said that he was inspired to find out about the world and challenge himself to do so when he was very young. It was a great line when he said he had asked for maps of undiscovered and unchartered areas of the world so that he could find out what needed to be discovered!! The undiscovered world (to students anyway) is what we want our students to discover and explore. Here is a quote from Duncan;

“Geography was my best subject in Year 12 and my geography teachers engaged and inspired me to find out about the world and think about things.”

For more information on the conference proceedings go to and download any of the presentations, talks etc which have and will continue to be posted over coming weeks.A huge thanks to Mark, the Geography Teachers Association of South Australia and all attendees in making this one of the best weeks of my life in terms of learning, inspiration and companionship. Rob Berry has also created a Facebook page on the conference and all things geographical. It would be great to see people using this site to discuss the conference but also what is about to happen as we work on the Australian Curriculum for geography.

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Who am I?

I have taught history, geography and civics and citizenship in the South Australian education system since 1976. I have been actively involved in the promotion of geography and history over the years, in particular the use of spatial technology in schools. I am a Past Chair of the Australian Geography Teachers' Association (Chair 2008-13) and Immediate Past President of the Australian Alliance of Associations in Education (2013-present). During the development of the Australian Curriculum: Geography I was a member of the ACARA Advisory Panel (2009-2013) and Executive Director of the ESA GeogSpace project. From 2007-2011 and in 2015 I was the Manager for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) in the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development (DECD). Presently I am a Teaching Academic in HaSS Education at the University of South Australia and the Manager for the Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize in DECD.